The Civic and Social Dimensions of Food Production and Distribution in Alternative Food Networks in France and Southern Brazil
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Published
Dec 4, 2012
Claire Lamine
Moacir Darolt
Alfio Brandenburg
Abstract
This article offers comparative insight into alternative food networks, based on French and Brazilian case studies. Looking at a series of initiatives, such as producer–consumer networks (Ecovida in Southern Brazil, AMAP in France), collective producer shops, farmers’ markets, and school provisioning schemes, we analyse the modes of coordination and decision-making that are articulated and the roles of the different actors involved. We show that the growing role of consumers and producers in these food networks, not only as individuals but also as citizens often involved in civil society organizations, can directly influence changes in public policy and the forms of agriculture practised, thereby leading to a better integration of the civic and social dimensions of food production and distribution. In both countries alternative food networks have strongly contributed to the legitimization of agro-ecology, although this is framed significantly by national specificities surrounding the institutionalization of ecological agriculture. In France this process focuses on organic agriculture, while it is more diverse in Brazil. Finally, we show that civic food networks’ influence on public policy partly relies on the alliances these networks are able to develop amongst themselves and with more institutional actors. We conclude with a discussion about food democracy.
How to Cite
Lamine , C. ., Darolt, M. and Brandenburg, A. . (2012) “The Civic and Social Dimensions of Food Production and Distribution in Alternative Food Networks in France and Southern Brazil ”, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food. Paris, France, 19(3), pp. 383–401. doi: 10.48416/ijsaf.v19i3.211.
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References
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Allen, A., Fitzsimmons, M., Goodman, M. and Warner, K. (2003) Shifting plates in the agri-food landscape:
the tectonics of alternative agri-food initiatives in California, Journal of Rural Studies, 19(1), pp. 61–75.
Bellon, S., Lamine, C., Ollivier, G. and de Abreu, L.S. (2011) The Relationships between Organic Farming and
Agroecology. Presented at the ISOFAR Congress, Korea, 28–30 September.
Bertoncello, B., Bellon, S. and de Abreu, L.S. (2008) Construction and Implementation of an Organic Agriculture
Legislation: The Brazilian Case. Presented at the IFOAM Organic World Congress, Modena, 16–20
June.
Blanc, J. and Kledal, P. (2012) The organic sector of Brazil: prospects and constraints of facilitating smallholder
inclusion, Journal of Rural Studies, 28(1), pp. 142–154.
Brandenburg, A. (2002) Movimento agroecologico: trajetoria, contradiçoes e perspetivas, Revista Desenvolvimento
e Meio Ambiente, 6, pp. 11–28.
Brunori, G., Rossi, A. and Malandrin, V. (2011) Co-producing transition: innovation processes in farms
adhering to solidarity-based purchase groups (GAS) in Tuscany, Italy, International Journal of Sociology
of Agriculture and Food, 18, pp. 28–53.
Callon, M., Millo, Y. and Muniesa, F. (2007) Market Devices. Oxford: Blackwell.
Cardona, A. and Lamine, C. (2011) Emergence of New Forms of Collective Action and Governance through Alternative
Food Networks: The Case of an ‘Amap’ in France. Presented at the XXIV ESRS Congress, Chania,
22–25 August.
Cardona, A. (2012) Territorial Agri-food Systems: Relinking Farming to Local and Environmental Stakes to
Change Farming Systems. Presented at the IFSA Congress, Aarhus, Denmark, 1–4 July.
Chiffoleau, Y. (2009) From politics to co-operation: the dynamics of embeddedness in alternative food
supply chains, Sociologia Ruralis, 49(3), pp. 218–235.
Deverre, C. and Lamine, C. (2010) Les systèmes agroalimentaires alternatifs. Une revue de travaux anglophones
en sciences sociales, Economie Rurale, 317, pp. 57–73
Dubuisson-Quellier, S., Lamine, C. and Le Velly, R. (2011) Is the consumer soluble in the citizen? Mobilization
in alternative food systems in France, Sociologia Ruralis, 51(3), pp. 304–323.
Dupuis, M. and Goodman, D. (2005) Should we go ‘home’ to eat? Towards a reflexive politics in localism,
Journal of Rural Studies, 21(3), pp. 359–371.
Feagan, R. (2007) The place of food: mapping out the ‘local’ in local food systems, Progress in Human
Geography, 31(1), pp. 23–42.
Giddens, A. (1990) The Consequences of Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Goodman, D. and Watts, M. (eds) Globalising Food: Agrarian Questions and Global Restructuring. London:
Routledge.
Hassanein, N. (2008) Locating food democracy: theoretical and practical ingredients, Journal of Hunger and
Environmental Nutrition, 3, pp. 286–308.
IPARDES/IAPAR (Instituto Paranaense de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social e Instituto Agronômico
do Paraná) (2007) O mercado de orgânicos no Paraná: caracterização e tendências. Curitiba: IPARDES.
Jaffe, J. and Gertler, M. (2006). Victual vicissitudes: consumer deskilling and the (gendered) transformation
of food systems, Agriculture and Human Values, 23, pp. 143–162.
Lamine, C. (2005) Settling the shared uncertainties: local partnerships between producers and consumers,
Sociologia Ruralis, 45, pp. 324–345.
Lamine, C. (2011) Les AMAP: une écologisation négociée, ou de nouvelles formes de normalisation inéquitables?,
in: S. Barrey and E. Kessous (eds) Consommer et protéger l’environnement. Opposition ou convergence?
Paris: L’Harmattan.
Lamine, C. (2012) ‘Changer de système’: une analyse des transitions vers l’agriculture biologique à
l’échelle des systèmes agri-alimentaires territoriaux, Terrains et travaux, 20, pp. 139–156.
Lamine, C., Renting, H., Rossi, A., Wiskerke, H. and Brunori, G. (2012). Agri-food systems and territorial
development: innovations, new dynamics and changing governance mechanisms, in: I. Darnhofer,
D. Gibbon and B. Dedieu (eds) The Farming Systems Approaches into the 21st Century: The New Dynamics.
Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 229–256.
Le Velly, R. and Brechet, J.P. (2011) Le marché comme rencontre d’activités de régulation. Initiatives et
innovations dans l’approvisionnement bio et local de la restauration collective, Sociologie du travail,
53(4), pp. 478–492.
Lockie, S. (2009) Responsibility and agency within alternative food networks: assembling the ‘citizen
consumer’, Agriculture and Human Values, 26, pp. 193–201.
Lockie, S. and Kitto, S. (2000) Beyond the farm gate: production–consumption networks and agri-food
research, Sociologia Ruralis, 40(1), pp. 3–19.
Lyson, T. (2004) Civic Agriculture. Reconnecting Farm, Food, and Community. Lebanon, NH: Tufts University
Press.
Maluf, R.S. (2004) Mercados Agroalimentares e a agricultura familiar no Brasil: agregacao de valor, cadeias
integradas e circuitos regionais, Ensaios FEE, Porto Alegre, 25(1), pp. 299–333.
Maréchal, G. (ed.) (2008) Bien manger dans les territoires. Dijon: Educagri.
Marsden, T. (2012) Third natures? reconstituting space through place-making strategies for sustainability,
International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 19(2), pp. 257–274.
Noe, E. and Alroe, H.F. (2011) Quality, coherence and co-operation: a framework for studying the mediation
of qualities in food networks and collective marketing strategies, International Journal of Sociology of
Agriculture and Food, 18(1), pp. 12–27.
Perez-Cassarino, J. (2012) A construção social de mecanismos alternativos de mercados no âmbito da Rede Ecovida
de Agroecologia. Ph.D. thesis, Universidade Federal do Paraná.
PNAE (Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar) (2009) Dispõe sobre o atendimento da alimentação
escolar aos alunos da educação básica no Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar – PNAE,
Resolução/CD/FNDE N. 38, de 16 de julho de 2009. Published online
Rosset, P.M. and Martínez-Torres, M.E. (2012) Rural social movements and agroecology: context, theory,
and process, Ecology and Society, 17(3), art. 17.
Santos, L.C.R. and Fonseca, M.F. (eds) (2004) Construindo a certificação participativa em rede no Brasil: cartilha
para subsidiar as oficinas locais. Florianópolis: Grupo de Agricultura Orgânica.
Schermer, M., Renting, H. and Oostindie, H. (2011) Collective farmers’ marketing initiatives in europe:
diversity, contextuality and dynamics, International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 18(1),
pp. 1–11.
Souza, J. Z.C. (2008) Comércio solidário na prática do núcleo litoral solidário da rede ecovida de agroecologia. M.Sc.
thesis, Universidade Federal do Paraná.
Souza, D. and Chmielewska, D. (2011) Public Support to Food Security in India, Brazil and South Africa: Elements
for a Policy Dialogue, IPC-IG Working Paper 80. Brasília: International Policy Centre for Inclusive
Growth.
Stassart, P. and Clay es, C. (2010) Agroécologie, le chainon manquant. Presented at the ISDA Congress, Montpellier,
28–30 June.
Tovey, H. (2009) ‘Local food’ as a contested concept: networks, knowledges and power in food-based
strategies for rural development, International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 16(2), pp.
21–35.
Triches, R.M. and Schneider, S. (2010) Alimentação escolar e agricultura familiar: reconectando o consumo
à produção, Saúde e Sociedade, 19(4), pp. 933–945.
Ploeg, J.D. van der, Renting, H., Brunori, G., Knickel, K., Mannion, J., Marsden, T., Roest, K. de, Sevilla-
Guzman, E. and Ventura, F. (2000) Rural development: from practices and policies towards theory.
Sociologia Ruralis, 40(4), pp. 391–408.
Ploeg, J.D. van der (2008) Camponeses e imperios alimentares: lutas por autonomia e sustentabilidade na era da
globalizacao. Porto Alegre: UFRGS Editora.
Wilkins J. (2005) Eating right here: moving from consumer to food citizen, Agriculture and Human Values,
22(3), pp. 269–273.
Wilkinson, J. (2008) Mercados, redes e valores: o novo mundo da agricultura familiar. Porto Alegre: Editora da
UFRGS: Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Desenvolvimento Rural.
Zanasi, C., Venturi, P., Setti, M. and Rota, C. (2009) Participative organic certification, trust and local rural
communities development: the case of Rede Ecovida, New Medit, 8(2), pp. 56–64.
Allen, A., Fitzsimmons, M., Goodman, M. and Warner, K. (2003) Shifting plates in the agri-food landscape:
the tectonics of alternative agri-food initiatives in California, Journal of Rural Studies, 19(1), pp. 61–75.
Bellon, S., Lamine, C., Ollivier, G. and de Abreu, L.S. (2011) The Relationships between Organic Farming and
Agroecology. Presented at the ISOFAR Congress, Korea, 28–30 September.
Bertoncello, B., Bellon, S. and de Abreu, L.S. (2008) Construction and Implementation of an Organic Agriculture
Legislation: The Brazilian Case. Presented at the IFOAM Organic World Congress, Modena, 16–20
June.
Blanc, J. and Kledal, P. (2012) The organic sector of Brazil: prospects and constraints of facilitating smallholder
inclusion, Journal of Rural Studies, 28(1), pp. 142–154.
Brandenburg, A. (2002) Movimento agroecologico: trajetoria, contradiçoes e perspetivas, Revista Desenvolvimento
e Meio Ambiente, 6, pp. 11–28.
Brunori, G., Rossi, A. and Malandrin, V. (2011) Co-producing transition: innovation processes in farms
adhering to solidarity-based purchase groups (GAS) in Tuscany, Italy, International Journal of Sociology
of Agriculture and Food, 18, pp. 28–53.
Callon, M., Millo, Y. and Muniesa, F. (2007) Market Devices. Oxford: Blackwell.
Cardona, A. and Lamine, C. (2011) Emergence of New Forms of Collective Action and Governance through Alternative
Food Networks: The Case of an ‘Amap’ in France. Presented at the XXIV ESRS Congress, Chania,
22–25 August.
Cardona, A. (2012) Territorial Agri-food Systems: Relinking Farming to Local and Environmental Stakes to
Change Farming Systems. Presented at the IFSA Congress, Aarhus, Denmark, 1–4 July.
Chiffoleau, Y. (2009) From politics to co-operation: the dynamics of embeddedness in alternative food
supply chains, Sociologia Ruralis, 49(3), pp. 218–235.
Deverre, C. and Lamine, C. (2010) Les systèmes agroalimentaires alternatifs. Une revue de travaux anglophones
en sciences sociales, Economie Rurale, 317, pp. 57–73
Dubuisson-Quellier, S., Lamine, C. and Le Velly, R. (2011) Is the consumer soluble in the citizen? Mobilization
in alternative food systems in France, Sociologia Ruralis, 51(3), pp. 304–323.
Dupuis, M. and Goodman, D. (2005) Should we go ‘home’ to eat? Towards a reflexive politics in localism,
Journal of Rural Studies, 21(3), pp. 359–371.
Feagan, R. (2007) The place of food: mapping out the ‘local’ in local food systems, Progress in Human
Geography, 31(1), pp. 23–42.
Giddens, A. (1990) The Consequences of Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Goodman, D. and Watts, M. (eds) Globalising Food: Agrarian Questions and Global Restructuring. London:
Routledge.
Hassanein, N. (2008) Locating food democracy: theoretical and practical ingredients, Journal of Hunger and
Environmental Nutrition, 3, pp. 286–308.
IPARDES/IAPAR (Instituto Paranaense de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social e Instituto Agronômico
do Paraná) (2007) O mercado de orgânicos no Paraná: caracterização e tendências. Curitiba: IPARDES.
Jaffe, J. and Gertler, M. (2006). Victual vicissitudes: consumer deskilling and the (gendered) transformation
of food systems, Agriculture and Human Values, 23, pp. 143–162.
Lamine, C. (2005) Settling the shared uncertainties: local partnerships between producers and consumers,
Sociologia Ruralis, 45, pp. 324–345.
Lamine, C. (2011) Les AMAP: une écologisation négociée, ou de nouvelles formes de normalisation inéquitables?,
in: S. Barrey and E. Kessous (eds) Consommer et protéger l’environnement. Opposition ou convergence?
Paris: L’Harmattan.
Lamine, C. (2012) ‘Changer de système’: une analyse des transitions vers l’agriculture biologique à
l’échelle des systèmes agri-alimentaires territoriaux, Terrains et travaux, 20, pp. 139–156.
Lamine, C., Renting, H., Rossi, A., Wiskerke, H. and Brunori, G. (2012). Agri-food systems and territorial
development: innovations, new dynamics and changing governance mechanisms, in: I. Darnhofer,
D. Gibbon and B. Dedieu (eds) The Farming Systems Approaches into the 21st Century: The New Dynamics.
Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 229–256.
Le Velly, R. and Brechet, J.P. (2011) Le marché comme rencontre d’activités de régulation. Initiatives et
innovations dans l’approvisionnement bio et local de la restauration collective, Sociologie du travail,
53(4), pp. 478–492.
Lockie, S. (2009) Responsibility and agency within alternative food networks: assembling the ‘citizen
consumer’, Agriculture and Human Values, 26, pp. 193–201.
Lockie, S. and Kitto, S. (2000) Beyond the farm gate: production–consumption networks and agri-food
research, Sociologia Ruralis, 40(1), pp. 3–19.
Lyson, T. (2004) Civic Agriculture. Reconnecting Farm, Food, and Community. Lebanon, NH: Tufts University
Press.
Maluf, R.S. (2004) Mercados Agroalimentares e a agricultura familiar no Brasil: agregacao de valor, cadeias
integradas e circuitos regionais, Ensaios FEE, Porto Alegre, 25(1), pp. 299–333.
Maréchal, G. (ed.) (2008) Bien manger dans les territoires. Dijon: Educagri.
Marsden, T. (2012) Third natures? reconstituting space through place-making strategies for sustainability,
International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 19(2), pp. 257–274.
Noe, E. and Alroe, H.F. (2011) Quality, coherence and co-operation: a framework for studying the mediation
of qualities in food networks and collective marketing strategies, International Journal of Sociology of
Agriculture and Food, 18(1), pp. 12–27.
Perez-Cassarino, J. (2012) A construção social de mecanismos alternativos de mercados no âmbito da Rede Ecovida
de Agroecologia. Ph.D. thesis, Universidade Federal do Paraná.
PNAE (Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar) (2009) Dispõe sobre o atendimento da alimentação
escolar aos alunos da educação básica no Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar – PNAE,
Resolução/CD/FNDE N. 38, de 16 de julho de 2009. Published online
Rosset, P.M. and Martínez-Torres, M.E. (2012) Rural social movements and agroecology: context, theory,
and process, Ecology and Society, 17(3), art. 17.
Santos, L.C.R. and Fonseca, M.F. (eds) (2004) Construindo a certificação participativa em rede no Brasil: cartilha
para subsidiar as oficinas locais. Florianópolis: Grupo de Agricultura Orgânica.
Schermer, M., Renting, H. and Oostindie, H. (2011) Collective farmers’ marketing initiatives in europe:
diversity, contextuality and dynamics, International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 18(1),
pp. 1–11.
Souza, J. Z.C. (2008) Comércio solidário na prática do núcleo litoral solidário da rede ecovida de agroecologia. M.Sc.
thesis, Universidade Federal do Paraná.
Souza, D. and Chmielewska, D. (2011) Public Support to Food Security in India, Brazil and South Africa: Elements
for a Policy Dialogue, IPC-IG Working Paper 80. Brasília: International Policy Centre for Inclusive
Growth.
Stassart, P. and Clay es, C. (2010) Agroécologie, le chainon manquant. Presented at the ISDA Congress, Montpellier,
28–30 June.
Tovey, H. (2009) ‘Local food’ as a contested concept: networks, knowledges and power in food-based
strategies for rural development, International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 16(2), pp.
21–35.
Triches, R.M. and Schneider, S. (2010) Alimentação escolar e agricultura familiar: reconectando o consumo
à produção, Saúde e Sociedade, 19(4), pp. 933–945.
Ploeg, J.D. van der, Renting, H., Brunori, G., Knickel, K., Mannion, J., Marsden, T., Roest, K. de, Sevilla-
Guzman, E. and Ventura, F. (2000) Rural development: from practices and policies towards theory.
Sociologia Ruralis, 40(4), pp. 391–408.
Ploeg, J.D. van der (2008) Camponeses e imperios alimentares: lutas por autonomia e sustentabilidade na era da
globalizacao. Porto Alegre: UFRGS Editora.
Wilkins J. (2005) Eating right here: moving from consumer to food citizen, Agriculture and Human Values,
22(3), pp. 269–273.
Wilkinson, J. (2008) Mercados, redes e valores: o novo mundo da agricultura familiar. Porto Alegre: Editora da
UFRGS: Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Desenvolvimento Rural.
Zanasi, C., Venturi, P., Setti, M. and Rota, C. (2009) Participative organic certification, trust and local rural
communities development: the case of Rede Ecovida, New Medit, 8(2), pp. 56–64.
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